Automatic starter and controller.



R. D. ERNEST.

AUTOMATIC STARTER AND CONTROLLER. APPLICATION FILED ocT. 19. I916.

1,273,798. v r Patented July 23, 1918..

WITNESSES I NVEIVTOI? A TTORNEYS FICE RALPH DWIGHT ERNEST, E ANN ARBOR,MICHIGAN. AUTOMATIC sTARTER Ann CONTROLLER.

Patented July 23, r918. Application filed October 19, 1916. Serial No.126,478. i

1,273,798 Specification of Letters Patent.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH D. ERNEST, a citizen of theUnited States, anda resident of Ann Arbor, inthe county of Washtenaw and State ofMichigan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Auto-'matic Starters and Controllers, of whichthe following is aspecification.

My invention relates to improvements in b no demand for power.

A further object of my invention is to mains. It controls together withthe auxiliary switch S the ignition circuit tothe engine. This relay isarranged to openwhen the current flowing in the generator mains fallsbelow a predetermined minimum, thus opening the ignition circuit. Therelay Z is a current relay in series with the switch S the battery, andthe mains L and L", and is used to control the starting circuit.

The operationof the device will best be understood by taking up thesteps in, the order in which they actually occur. Let us assume that thegenerator is standing still, the relays X, Y and Z are open. The circuitbreaker E, as will be seen from the drawing, is .in such position as toclose the switches S and S and to openthe switch S There is therefore a12 volt pressure on the circuit mains L and L". Suppose'now a watt lamp,such as that shown at W is switched on, this will cause a current toflow from the battery D through wire 2, relay Z,*wire 3,

' switch S wired, through one of the mains eliminate the necessity forthe 11 of a L, then through the lamp Wto the other 25 storage battery,storage batteries being eX- ain L and back to the battery by the- 80pensive, inefficient, and short-lived. i 5

Other objects and advantages will appear in the followingspecification,'and the novel features of the invention will be pointedout in the appended claims. v

My. invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which is adiagrammatic view of the various parts and their circuit connections.

In carrying out my invention, 1 provide a generator A which may be a 110volt direct current shunt or compound wound generator driven by, anddirect connected to a single cylinder gas engine B. A 12 volt starter Cis geared direct to the common shaft. 1 A 12 volt starting battery D isprovided to furnish energy for starting. At E, I have shown a singlepole, solenoid operated circuit breaker.

In addition to the above apparatus, I

provide three relays, X, Y, and Z. Three ,switches are also provided, asshown "at S, S and S respectively, the latter being a The operation ofthe relay Z will close the circuit from the battery D through thestarter C, wire 7, contacts of the rela Z through the wire 8 back to thebattery. he ignition circuit will also be closed, the current flowingfrom the battery D through wire 6, wire 9, primary P of the inductioncoil, wire 10, wire 11, switch S wire 12, wire 7, contacts of relay Z,wire 8, back to the battery.

The engine is now started. As speed in;

creases, the voltage of the generator will increase, exerting a pressureon relay X which will operate at about 105volts. The closing of thecontacts of the relay X energizes the coil of the circuit breaker overthe following path; from battery D, through wire 13, contacts of therelay X, coils of the circuit breaker E and back by wire 14 to thebattery. The operation of the circuit breaker in closing, opens theauxiEary switches S and S and closes the auxiliary switch S Switch S isslightly retarded due toits time element, in order to allow time toenergize the relay Y, by the cur rent flow due to the closing of thecircuit breaker. The auxiliary switch S is thus open during normalrunning, which gives relay Y complete control over the ignition circuit.The relay Z is protected from the generator voltage by the opening ofthe auxiliary switch S The closing of the auxiliary switch S closes thecircuit between the starting motor-generator 'and the battery, allowingthe starting motor, now a generator, to charge the battery in additionto furnishing current for ignition and for operating the circuitbreakersolenoid.

Let us now consider the efiect when all the lamps are turned off,causing the current in the generating circuit to decrease to a minimum.Relay Y having no current to energize it will open and break theignition circuit, causing the engine to stop. As the speed falls old,the generator voltage will fall ofi and at 105 volts, the circuitbreaker will open and will restore the auxiliary switch S1 to a closedposition, thereby completing the circuit through the relay Z as far asthe circuit mains, ready for starting. The opening of the circuitbreaker opens auxiliaryswitch S before the starting motorgeneratorvoltage falls low enough to begin to take power from the bat tery. Theauxiliary switch S tends to close, but is retarded in doing so longenough to allow the engine to stop before closing, as otherwise ignitionwould be restored and the engine would start up again.

It will be seen that the operation of the generating sets is controlledby the condition of the load on the circuit mains, and obeys the callfor energy instantly One has only to close the switch to cause thegenerator to be started and furnish the power required,

and on the other hand, one has only to open the switch to stop the wholesystem tar/ res ll claim:

1. The combination of an internal combustion engine, having electricigniters, an electric starter for said engine, a generator driven by theengine, a battery, a main power or lighting circuit, said battery havingnormal connections with said main circuit, a relay operated by thebattery current for controlling the ignition circuit and the electricstarter, a relay in the main circuit for opening orclosing the ignitioncircuit, a circuit breaker for opening and clos 6 'the electric starter,a relay in the main circuit for opening and closing said ignitioncircuit, a switch for controlling the battery circuit, a quick-actingswitch and a time retarded switch for partly controlling the ignition,all of said switches being'operated by said circuit breaker, and a relayin the main circuit and operated at a predetermined voltage forcontrolling the circuit breaker of the generator,

RALPH DVVTGHT ERNEST,

